Post-Helene Open Letter

Dear friends and stakeholders:

The media coverage of hurricane Helene ravaging our community and region have been so widely shared and extensively published that our team made a decision early on not to circulate more devastation but rather focus on resources (for our stakeholders) and points of light (for those following along).

Barely a month post-Helene and we still feel very emotional. Emotional about what we have been through. Emotional about what so many are still going through. And emotional about navigating the road ahead.

In the days that followed the catastrophic devastation of our farms, small businesses, homes, roads, bridges and dreams, there have also been incredible moments of selfless giving. Folks who have lost everything but showed up for their neighbors to help clear debris. Folks whose own livelihood was on the line but offered free meals to anyone and everyone in the community. Folks who showed up with trucks, trailers, pack mules, ATVs, ziplines, boats and kayaks to get supplies to stranded strangers.

These last weeks have truly been a season of “the only way out is through” and leaning into being eternally grateful that we’ve had each other in the effort.

Over the last few weeks, some heros who’ve called upon heros come to mind, (in no particular order of service):

Thank you to neighbors who have helped neighbors that don’t have a website but have done the work. Thank you to alllllll the grassroots organizations and churches in western NC who aren’t mentioned here but have shown up to feed, clothe, provide essential supplies, hot meals, dignity, love and embraces. We have been volunteering alongside you and have witnessed the incredible compassion and care pouring out of the many disaster relief centers.

Thank you to the farmers who have continued to harvest and the nonprofits who have put together food boxes, including farmfresh goods, and widely distributed to other community organizations and relief centers. As we all know, the freshest produce holds the highest nutritional value and flavor. So thank you farmers and relief centers for remembering folks.

Thank you to whomever donated alllll the grills and charcoal so that folks could cook without power. And to those who sent water.

There are so many more thank you’s—to those who traveled and showed up from near and far to piece together our infrastructure, our digital connections with family and neighbors, our safety, access to food for people and farm animals, and to local heros who didn’t go home for days and days and days.

We have a long way to go yet. But what we have experienced tells us that we surely aren’t going it alone. And that is something extraordinary. To be seen. To be rescued. To be loved. To be lifted.

Thank you to everyone reading along who has beamed love, sent supplies and offered your assistance,

Our community is down but is resilient because of the “small town” ties that bind us together in sameness.

Our strength is how we show up for one another.

Beaming love to all,

Tina Masciarelli, MLA
Buy Haywood Project Coordinator

Header photo courtesy of WNC Regional Livestock Center: October 8, 2024
Caption—FUN FACT: When bundled in 3-deep by 7-wide cubes of 21 bales, you can fit at least 126 bales and 50 bags of feed in a Chinook.